EDCOUCH – An Edcouch woman is thanking her neighbor after he saved her and her children from a fire.

Leslie Verasteguis says she was alone with her three children and had no idea the flames of a fire next door were creeping up her home.

She says she can’t bear think what could have happened if it weren’t for her neighbor, Leo Gonzalez.

“I knew they were inside because my neighbor told me they were asleep,” he tells CHANNEL 5 NEWS. “So I got the courage to go knock on the door.”

Officials say the blaze damaged two houses and completely destroyed another.

KRGV’s John Paul Barajas spoke with Hidalgo County Fire Marshal Investigator John Franz who says people should not, under any circumstance, enter a burning building.

“Do not go back into the building. Do not go back to try and retrieve items, animals – anything of that nature,” he says. “Make sure 9-1-1 has been called and let the fire department get there.”

He says the cause of the fire is still under investigation.  

Watch the video above for the full story.